Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County hosts artist Ceanna Davis for July First Friday event
We are excited to announce Ceanna Davis as our featured local artist for July 2024. This exhibit will take place on Friday, July 5, from 5 PM to 8 PM. The event will be held at the historic Sehner-Ellicott-Von Hess House, located at 123 N Prince Street in Downtown Lancaster on Gallery Row.
Ceanna Davis Bio
My name is Ceanna Davis, and I’m proud to call Lancaster County my home. Art has been a fundamental part of my life ever since my parents instilled a love for creativity in me from a young age. I vividly remember starting art lessons at the age of six, and I’ve been painting ever since.
Ceanna Davis
In high school, I stumbled upon CASA, a charter high school dedicated to the arts. It was a turning point for me. Suddenly, art wasn’t just a hobby—it became a lifeline, a way for me to express myself and navigate the world around me. When I enrolled in CASA for my senior year, I knew that art was more than just something I enjoyed; it was something I needed.
When the pandemic hit, I turned to my art even more. It was a source of comfort and stability during uncertain times. That’s when I decided to take my passion for painting to the next level and applied to the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design (PCAD). At PCAD, I found a community that embraced and nurtured my creativity, allowing me to delve deeper into my craft.
My art serves as a reflection of my journey, and through my current body of work, I aim to express my unique experience with girlhood and the inherent growing pains it entails. With the medium of paint, I endeavor to narrate stories that resonate deeply with me, stories that I find difficult to articulate through any other means.
I am excited to continue my artistic journey, sharing my unique perspective and the beauty I find in everyday life through my art. It’s a privilege to create, and I hope to inspire others to embrace their own creativity and find solace in self-expression.
Artist Statement
When discussing this body of work, I wanted to convey how strange it is to be a twenty-something-year-old woman grasping onto childhood and not allowing room for growth. By putting adult figures in situations where they are almost squeezing into memories, in a literal sense – flesh spilling out of childhood garments, feminine colors and nuance, coming-of-age events, or being too physically big for the space that the figures wish to occupy.
I strive to convey this sense of almost awkward melancholy and evoke a sense of nostalgia. I also wanted to play with this idea of larger-than-life grandiose figures to visually demonstrate that when you are a naive young girl, you have these large feelings, but you feel minuscule, jejune, and insignificant to society. This creates unsettling and eerie feelings, almost like a sensation of impending dread (adulthood). Placing the figures in these microcosmic spaces where they do not fit physically due to their colossal sizes and emotions while maintaining a childlike atmosphere creates this sense of discomfort and malaise for the viewer.
About The Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County
Founded in 1966, the Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County works to stimulate community awareness and appreciation of the historic heritage of Lancaster County. We are committed to the preservation and protection of significant historical resources in Lancaster County.